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The truth

Sunday was election day here in Bavaria. There are a lot of people who think that this state doesn‘t have a democracy, since it‘s been ruled by the same party for so long that public servantsare not seen to be serving anyone but themselves. …
I’ve been thinking about what makes democracy tick as I read a book by David Foster Wallace, the most brilliant writer of my generation in many ways, who killed himself on September 12th, losing his 20-year fight against depression. This book is called „McCain’s Promise“, and it’s about what makes people care enough to get involved in politics. According to Wallace, it comes down to straight talk.

It’s hard to imagine now, but back in 2000 McCain was the candidate who stood for change. His straight talk got young people interested in politics. David Foster Wallace, who covered the McCain campaign for Rolling Stone, describes how at the end of each speech McCain would pause for effect and say “I‘m going to tell you something. I may have said some things here today that maybe you don‘t agree with, and I might have said some things that you hopefully do agree with. But I will always. Tell you. The truth.” That line would get him standing ovations. Why? Wallace describes and analyses it so lucidly that I’m going to read you a long passage now from his book:

Wallace sat in the dark box of depression most of his life, and truth obviously meant the world to him. Well, the people he calls Young Voters are still looking for that same quality, now more than ever, after eight years of the Bush reality show. But McCain doesn’t have what it takes. Wallace saw the problem in McCain’s unsmiling reaction to the cheering Young Voters as it became apparent to him that he just might actually win:

“It’s worth looking hard at his eyes in these photos. Now there’s something to lose, or to win. Now it gets complicated, the campaign and the chances and the strategy; and complication is dangerous, because the truth is rarely complicated. Complication usually has more to do with mixed motives, gray areas, compromise.”

McCain is a maverick, not a politician, and bad at compromise. To become president, he’s playing dirty games which break his legendary code of honor and which he may not agree with completely. Did you notice how he avoided looking Obama in the eye in the first presidential debate? Straight talk may be a great quality in a man. But it’s not enough for the President of the United States. And that’s the truth.

The CSU (the conservative party) has lost the absolute majority it held since the early 1960s in a landslide election, dropping from 60% (the last elections were in 2003) to 43% of the vote. Now they will need to form a coalition with one of the other parties, who, of course, have very little practical experience in governance. A very healthy change for the better, through the transformation process will be rather novel to the generation now in power. In celebration, here are the one and only Biermösl Blosn, who have been trying to sing down the CSU for ages: